Influence of additive manufacturing processes on the electromagnetic properties and the microstructure of duplex steel

Abstract:
In this paper, the influence of additive manufacturing processes on the the physical density, the electrical and magnetic properties and the microstructure were analyzed. The goal of the research is to verify the use of additively manufactured components for electric drives used in corrosive media, such as in the marine sector. While the density measurement did not reveal any major differences between the two manufacturing methods, the differences in the microstructure are more striking. In particular, the amount of ferritic phase in the samples roduced by selective laser melting is significantly higher than in the as-cast samples. This difference is also evident in the samples’ electrical and magnetic properties. Duplex specimens produced by selective laser melting have higher electrical resistivity and magnetic conductivity than specimens made from cast duplex steel. As a result, the use of additively manufactured duplex steel components in electrical machines for special applications appears promising.